Remembering Names and Faces

Everybody has trouble remembering names and faces. The usual tricks don't always work, and may even be counter-productive. I have just posted a summary of a study that challenges the conventional approach to remembering names and faces. Click here for details.

More confirmation of sleep loss impairment of memory

I just wrote a summary of yet another study which showed that missing one night's sleep impairs memory of what happened the next day, even though the sleep loss was made up later. The test conditions involved losing sleep on one night, then learning stuff on the next day, followed by a normal night's sleep, and then being tested the next day. So this indicates that this is a "proactive" effect, where sleep loss before learning impairs learning. I have reviewed other studies that show impairment when sleep loss occurs at the same time as learning, as in cramming for exams. Click here for details.

Multi-tasking is the Wrong Way to Learn

Today's kids are in to multi-tasking. This is the generation hooked on iPods, IM'ing, video games - not to mention TV! According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study last year, school kids in all grades beyond the second grade committed, on average, more than six hours per day to TV or videos, music, video games, and computers. Almost one-third reported that "most of the time" they did their homework while chatting on the phone, surfing the Web, sending instant messages, watching TV, or listening to music.Kids think that this entertainment while studying helps their learning. It probably does make learning less tedious, but it clearly makes learning less efficient and less effective. Multi-tasking violates everything we know about how memory works. Now we have objective scientific evidence that multi-tasking impairs learning. See the summary at my Web site.